Virtual School, Real Valedictorian

Going to public school -- fixed schedule, 8-to-5 -- is a total bummer, man. So many rules.

A typical attitude, maybe, from a typical high school kid, but not from a valedictorian with a 4.46 grade point average and a member of the National Honor Society.

But the reason Andrea Sanders, 17, of San Clemente was so bummed about the normal brick-and-mortar high school schedule isn't because she wanted to flake and go surfing. It's because she spends at least one day per week volunteering at an orphanage in Tijuana. That's why she attended the online Capistrano Connections Academy.

"My parents were missionaries before I was born," Sanders said. "We bring games and movies [to the orphanage]-- things they normally wouldn't be able to get. The idea is to give the house parents -- they have to be there 24-7 -- their day off."

She'll be attending Indiana's Taylor University in the fall.

Sanders just graduated Monday from Capistrano Connections Academy, a virtual public school based in Aliso Viejo that teaches students in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Sanders was one of eight valedictorians who graduated from the high school this spring, part of the K-12 school's largest senior class yet of 89.

 Click here for more information about Capistrano Connections Academy.